2 Reasons using the Bible to prove your point is often wrong.

Someone is upset about some behavior or other. They hammer out their comment declaring that such-and-such is PROHIBITED BY THE BIBLE!!! Almost immediately someone else retorts so is wearing polyester and eating shell fish.

You’ll hear some people claim that it was Biblical Christians who invented hospitals, championed abolition, elevated women’s position in society. Others will argue that it was so-called Biblical Christians who used the Bible to uphold slavery in America, or to keep women from getting the right to vote.

I still feel that anxious cringe whenever some crazy on TV starts quoting scripture to justify his teenage wives, or his white supremacy, or war in the middle east. It’s not just the crazies. People on both sides of every cultural debate in our country all use the Bible to bolster their arguments, and hopefully draw Christians into their support.

There comes a point when a reasonable person would not be blamed for throwing their hands up in the air and dismissing the whole thing. I mean, if anyone can make the Bible mean anything they want, then what possible good could it do as a source of guidance? Fair question.

Two ways to tangle up your reading of the Bible.

The reason people think that anything can be proven from the Bible comes from two common mistakes.

1. We prefer bumper-sticker quotes to careful nuanced reading.

Our first problem is that we just hate complexity so much. We love the easy-to-quote lines that work well for mugs, Facebook posts, and arguments.

For example, it’s far easier to quote Paul saying, “I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man,” than it is to study the context of that passage and learn about the important role of women in the early church across the New Testament.

The famous scripture “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” is so encouraging and empowering. It sounds like a downpayment on all our hopes and dreams… unless we read the full context. Then we see Paul is most likely saying that Christ can strengthen us to bear up under terrible, painful circumstaneces—like being imprisoned for your faith. That’s a great promise, but one not quite so many people hope to need.

Many of us want simple black-and-white bumper-sticker-worthy statements from the Bible. We want them because they’re clear. They sound final and authoritative. Mostly, we want them because we don’t want to do the hard work of living with the Bible, and letting God to teach us, through an ongoing engagement with this powerful book.

This unfortunate desire leads to our second mistake.

2. We try to read the Bible like it’s a democracy.

When we quote specific verses in isolation, specifically for the purpose of proving a point, we are relating to the Bible as if is a policy manual, some list of standards and practices. We treat the Bible like it is a democracy, where every verse from cover to cover has exactly equal say and weight. This is a complete misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the Bible.

This is just not the case. Consider only two examples.

In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus does something interesting. He says “You’ve heard it said…” and then quotes an Old Testament scripture. Then he says, “But I say unto you…” and proceeds to give a new and deeper interpretation of those passages.

Do you see what’s happening? Jesus’ words (which are in scripture) supersede the verses he was quoting (which are also in scripture). Biblical commands on adultery, divorce, making oaths, and how we see our enemy all get this treatment, among others. Jesus’ action here shows us not every verse of scripture carries the same weight.

In Acts 10, Peter had a vision. Now, he was a good practicing Jew who had faithfully followed the ceremonial cleanliness laws from Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Violating these laws left a person ceremonially unclean, unable to participate in the life and worship of the community. That included touching or eating with a gentile. Peter believed these were God’s standards expressed in scripture.

Then Peter had this vision where God made clear things had shifted. Food and people that were unclean in the Old Testament were now declared clean. Not only did this change the way Peter saw his food, more importably, it changed how he interacted with people who weren’t Jewish. This vision allowed Christianity to break out of the boundaries Judaism and into the rest of the world.

The instruction God gave to Peter in Acts 10 superseded the instructions from earlier in scripture. Acts and the rest of the New Testament assume that followers of Jesus will live in alignment with this newer revelation, rather than the older perspective from the Torah. This is just two examples!

Sometimes selective reading is the most Biblical.

The Bible itself teaches that there is a hierarchy of authority within the Bible. Plainly put: Certain verses are more important, binding, or authoritative, than others. Sound different than what you learned or thought? Maybe this makes you a little bit uncomfortable. But understand: this is something even the most strict literalists act on already–een when they say they don’t.

For example, Psalms 137:9 literally says that the person who grabs your baby and smashes their head on a rock is happy. No literalist I’ve ever met says that verse is authoritative over your life. Why not?

First, it violates the 6th commandment. Second, it violates Jesus’ words in Matthew 5. Third, it’s poetry, and poetry is read differently than policy. Finally, when you read the whole poem, you see that the “you” in verse 9 is “Daughter Babylon,” not any old “you” you might want to substitute. Reading the verse in it’s accurate context and through the lens of more authoritative verses gives you the best understanding.

Another example. Deuteronomy 23:1 says that any man with a genital defect isn’t allowed to participate in worship. Now, I have never met any pastor who has a plan for enforcing this in their church. Why? Because nearly every Christian church teaches that these community-defining standards from Leviticus no longer apply.

How can we make this claim? Aren’t we picking and choosing? No! First, Isaiah 56, which comes later chronologically, says that God welcomes eunuchs. Second, this is one of the ritual cleanliness laws that God freed the church from in Acts. Third, in case all of this is still unclear, one of the very first converts to Christianity was an Ethiopian Eunuch. He was welcomed into the church on the basis of a short Bible study and baptism. Philip never one asked him about the state of his genitals.

People often say they just believe the Bible and do what it says. This is never true! Everyone who reads the Bible makes priority decisions about which texts to give more weight to. We make the judgement that certain verses, or certain voices within scripture, have higher authority than others.

If you grew up in a more conservative or fundamentalist church and home, that statement probably feels uncomfortable to you. It may sound like I’m advocating tossing out precious truth and the authority of the Bible. I’m not. The Bible itself tells us that certain verses supersede other verses. Certain verses become the lens through which we see others. We aren’t expected to treat a story about Israel’s military campaign against its enemies with the same weight that we treat Paul’s letters to the church. Even Paul’s writing must always be subservient to and interpreted in light of Jesus’ words and actions.

When we pull individual verses out of the narrative without any attention to the larger narrative they fall within, we run the risk of trying to prove something that the Bible isn’t ultimately saying. It’s a little bit like assuming that because characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain use racist language, that Mark Twain was advocating and supporting racism. That’s clearly a bad reading of the book, but we read the Bible that way all the time!

Let’s make sure we’re hearing what the Bible is really saying.

The Bible is a book for grown-ups. What I mean is that it requires our engagement and reflection. It requires thought, study and discovery. It challenges us to seek God, and to keep on seeking, even when the “moral of the story” isn’t obvious.

Now just because we have to make decisions about which parts of the Bible to weigh more heavily, doesn’t mean it’s potluck time, where we can all just pick and choose the parts we like. If we recognize that there is a hierarchy of voices in the Bible, and that there is a narrative flow that moves through the book, we discover something else vital. We don’t have the leeway to determine that hierarchy ourselves. The Bible itself, particularly the revelation of Jesus, will point us in the right direction.

We can’t take any old verse and make it mean what we want it to mean. Anyone who says so is ignoring what the Bible says about itself. In order to treat any verse with integrity, we have to read it inside its context. We have to know who said it, when they said it, and who they were saying it to. We have to know where it falls in the overall timeline and narrative of scripture. Only then can we begin to hear what scripture is really saying. Even better, over time we will become more familiar with that particular theme across the whole of scripture.

The Bible does mean something. It does say specific things. And it doesn’t say just anything anyone wants it to say.If you come across someone who is using the Bible to support some authoritative viewpoint, don’t take their word for it. Read the verses they are quoting in context. Compare their interpretation against the overall narrative of the Bible. See what you learn. In many cases, the Bible itself will clear up the confusion.

This post is part of a series about ways we get in the way of our experience of scripture. The series is called Jumping the Hurdles.

Thanks for letting me know about the link. Should be fixed now. You ask a great question. “What happens” has a lot to do with your view of scripture. I’m quite comfortable with the idea that the Bible contains difficult, painful and even evil things. Most of the Bible isn’t meant to be an example to follow or a command to live out. Much of it is simply a record of one particular group of people and their history. Sometimes their actions are Godly, sometimes they aren’t Sometimes the text judges them. Sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes the meaning can only be found in the trajectory. Slavery is a good example. Clearly there is an evolution on the topic of slavery over the course of the Bible. One person can say, “it’s just unconscionable that the New Testament doesn’t come out against slavery!” That’s a fair perspective that I understand. But another person can say, “Well, God seems to work through culture over time, rather than demanding changes. The trajectory of the New Testament is against slavery and in favor of human dignity.” I think that’s also fair. But whether that works for you depends on your view and expectations of scripture.

I stumbled onto this trying to find an argument in the news that can be argued from both sides of the Bible for schoolwork (I go to a private Christian School) and I find this very interesting and clarifying, It’s pretty cool.

Your thoughtfulness comes through even better after reading the article again.
I would credit it to the saving grace by your faith. A sound mind, An easy yoke, to quote ‘ Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord’.
Thank you

Thank you a lot, this is a problem I run into with a lot of my friends, they take one verse without looking at the rest of the bible to put it all together the correct way. one way I see people doing this is with “loving” each other. they take the verses that say “love your neighbor as yourself” or other ones, but they don’t study the Bible to realize the TRUE meaning of love. lets say, for example, someone is saying “well we have to love idiolators!” (or any other thing the Bible says is wrong) but they mistake love for acceptance. we can’t just let people do things the bible says is wrong. but we CAN love them, the correct way. remember in matthew 18:15 when Jesus says “If your brother sins, point it out to them, if they listen, you have gained a brother.”? the main point of jesus coming was to show God’s love for everyone, and so, everything jesus teaches somehow relates to love. so, (like you said) in matthew 5, Jesus says “do not believe I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, i have not come to abolish them, but to fulfil them.” in THAT verse, he is telling us that what the bible says is a sin, is a sin. or anything else included in the old testament. we have psalm 33 which talks about “God’s everlasting word” meaning, what he says is what he says, and it isn’t changed. and also revelation 22:19 which says “and if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” and matthew 5:18-19 says “18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” so we can’t add or erase to what the bible says is a sin, BUT, we can change how we deal with it. We need to love these people, yes, but not in the way a lot of people are doing it now. The bible says nothing about needing to “accept” each others sins and just let it go, pretend it didn’t happen, or make believe that it’s not a sin…what the bible DOES say about love is like i said earlier. talk to the person who sinned, and make it right. what greater gift can one give than bringing a friend closer to God? none. and HOW do we bring one closer to God? well continuing sin obviously doesn’t. we help the person, accept what they are doing is wrong, repent to God and and ask for forgiveness, and put some effort into changing. Like you said, we can’t just imagine up our own versions of the Bible or what it says. we can’t just assume that our own feeling-based interpretation is correct, we have to use the BIble. the WHOLE Bible. and like you said again, some verses are lenses to understanding others. The verse matthew 18:15 helps us understand a verse like Mark 12:31. and then we have verses like 1st Corinthians 13:13 which says “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” and the reason the greatest of these is love, is because it is what we can use to help bring each other to christ. and hold each other accountable. Faith and hope are personal. They are things you do yourself, to yourself(with a few acceptions, obviously. like how you can give someone hope in a bad time, but they aren’t as powerful as love, and here’s why). But love is something you can give to many people, and many people can give to you. imagine if you had 12 people all holding you accountable, making sure you didn’t slip, helping guide you through your sin, that’d be amazing! but only if they are willing to be strong and TRULY love you. if they just “accept you for who you are,” its weak. one: we are not just “made who are and can’t change.” that is assuming God also made the terrorists of 9/11 how they were, too. its a weak excuse and its assuming we can’t become better people and be brought closer to God.(not to mention that it is selective thinking which you did a good job at rebuking in this document) also, if we were made how we are, the Bible wouldn’t talk so much about redemption. it’s a fool’s argument, and a weaklings shield. but like all shields, it will break at one point or another. so better to just not have a shield at all. be willing to accept our sins. not as ok, but as something we can ask forgiveness for, and work on fixing. Two: people who TRULY love you may be annoying sometimes. because no one likes to hear their faults. one difference between strong christians and weak christians is that strong ones will accept their problems and change. TRUE friends will hold you accountable, help you demolish your sin, and bring you closer to God, not closer to comfort. As we know, being a good christian is not easy, the more comfortable we try to make it, the more comfy we will get. and when we get comfy, we get lazy. We must stay on alert and always be ready to defend God, TRULY. without forgetting to have some fun as well, but within the boundaries of God’s amazing house. thank you again for this awesome article, I completely agree with it and it’s a problem that needs to be addressed (like you have done) and something done about it.

I’m not a atheist but i feel all religion is mans way of connecting to a higher power. Jesus saw Judaism and decided to teach it his way which is good but i’m not sure he wanted a religion based solely on reaching God only through him.

So much has been written in his name by others after his death, he was a prophet and wanted others to live a moral life the other stuff i cant speak on.

my only problem is Christians that take everything literally without a second glance. every word as fact,no matter how odd or weird it is.

men living to be 900, walking on water, different languages because the tower of babel, a burning bush meaning more than it does. a person being physically lifted to heaven…etc

i had a convo with someone today and they talked about jews getting more coming to them for the crucifixion..jesus was a jew and you cant blame all jews in perpetuity for a few years ago for egging on jesus being killed.

Hey Jason, thanks for the thoughtful comment. What you refer to is something that is true for a certain sub-set of Christians. I would call the way of reading scripture that you are talking about “Biblicism,” or “Fundamentalist Literalism.” It is more common in American Christianity in the past few generations, but it is by no means the only way (or even the majority way) that Christians read the Bible. But, if you’re not part of the insider-conversations, you might not know that. The folks who read the Bible that way are the most vocal, and the ones that often get the loudest hearing. (Sadly)

Christians as far back as the early church fathers in the 2nd and 3rd centuries were quite comfortable with a metaphorical reading of many of the stories in the Bible. For many of them, it was their primary way of understandings scripture. And today, with the benefit of textual criticism, and so many other fields of study, almost all branches of Christianity accept that the Bible is written in different genres and that in order to understand it you need to respect the interpretive conventions of each genre.

For example, poetry is not journalism. When a poet uses a metaphor, no smart person takes their words literally. They are using a comparison to talk about something larger than words. So, passages of scripture intentionally written as poetry (Like Genesis 1, all of the Psalms, John 1, and other passages) need to be read with a poetic eye. What is the deeper truth being referred to? The details matter, but the details are not the point. Within the books of the Bible, there are many genres. Poetry, sermon, mythic history, letter, biography, and more. There are parts of the Bible that were written with the intention that they be taken literally (like today’s journalism or letters might be) and parts that were meant to communicate something larger and more significant than the literal words. Reading the Bible without this understanding only leads to problems.

Your last paragraph is a great example of the kind of problem I mean. The person you were talking to seems to have been using the Gospel story of Jesus crucifixion as a cover-up for their own anti-semitism. That’s a big problem. Not only in terms of our society, or in terms of that person being an integrated, compassionate human, but also in terms of scripture. The point of the story of Jesus’ crucifixion is being overlooked entirely. Were there Jews involved in the crucifixion? Sure. But the idea that all Jews are culpable is blatant ignorance of the text. The point is that people in power (religious leaders as well as political leaders) were threatened by Jesus and his teaching, and they manipulated the crowds in such a way that they could justify their attempt to legally murder Jesus. And yet, Jesus (who I believe was God) was willing to enter into this dark place of abuse and oppression to show us the true character of God.

So, in my view, anyone who uses the Gospels to support anti-semitism is misreading the text in a number of ways. They are ignoring that many besides Jews were involved. They are ignoring that Jesus chose willingly to enter into his passion. They are ignoring that Jesus, on the cross, verbally forgave everyone involved in his crucifixion, and they are ignoring the rest of the New Testament that teaches that Jesus’ very actions of submitting himself to this dark and terrible experience was showing us that the character of God is other-centered co-suffering love.

I hear your frustration with folks who seem to be blindly using the Bible to avoid dealing with their own hearts, or to cover-up their own prejudices. I feel exactly the same way.

Find It

Policies & Legal

Subscribe and get the free course

Journaling for Spiritual Growth.

The single most impactful spiritual practice in my life has been journaling. Subscribe and get this 6-week course, Journaling for Spiritual Growth. It’s delivered by email. Take a practical step for spiritual growth. It’s a lot easier than you think.